Who's gonna send Joe this article? (from the Las Vegas Sun)

[vanaznminorhockey]

Hey folks, who's gonna send this article thru "Ask the CEO" to Joe and Vermont FrostHeaves' owner Wolff will be nominated to the ABA SALUTE PROGRAM LOL!!

Columnist Ron Kantowski: On the rag-tag American Basketball Association and on any number of reasons why Las Vegas' entry is no longer competing
Ron Kantowski's column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

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They are to the latest reincarnation of the American Basketball Association what nearly forgotten teams such as the Memphis Tams, Virginia Squires, The Floridians and the Spirits of St. Louis were to the rollicking, original ABA of the early 1970s.

And every bit as defunct.

But the biggest difference is that the Las Vegas Rattlers' defunctness is a point of contention between the guys who ran the team and the guy who runs the league.

Houston-based Gil Morgan, who along with partner Roy Hammonds operated the Rattlers for two-plus seasons (with the plus being the one game they played in December before folding), said the biggest reason the team is no longer dunking the red, white and blue basketball is because Indianapolis-based Joe Newman, the ABA commissioner, is clueless.

Newman said the same thing about them.

I guess when it comes to being clueless, it takes one to know two. Or vice versa.

According to Newman, the Rattlers and five other franchises in the sprawling ABA, which features somewhere between 30 and 40 teams, depending on the day of week and which way the wind blows, were suspended for not meeting minimum ABA requirements -- such as showing up for a scheduled game.

According to Morgan, the ABA was so disorganized that the Rattlers decided to suspend themselves.

"We had people who were interested in being sponsors. But how could we bring them in when we can't even tell them the dates of the games," Morgan said about a schedule that, like the Afro Julius Erving sported in the old ABA's halcyon days, always seemed to be evolving. "You can't operate that way."

So the Rattlers are no longer operating.

Morgan portrayed Newman as an opportunist who uses franchise fees and umbrella sponsorships to line his own pockets.

When I told him the league office might have a different view, he said "What league office?"

"There is no league office," Morgan said. "The league office is Joe Newman's basement."

If there's one thing that Morgan and Newman agree upon, it's that the modest buy-in fee is the ABA's best selling point. Even if they can't agree on what the fee is.

"The fee is $10,000 or $20,000, depending on how he's feeling that day," Morgan said. "A lot of people are giving Joe Newman a bunch of money, but none of it is filtering down."

So Morgan said he and Hammonds were forced to reach into their own pockets to keep the team solvent.

He said there were times when the Rattlers, who basically played for peanuts and love of the game, would rent vans for a road trip not knowing if their semischeduled opponent was going to show up, or worse, even exist by the time they arrived.

"We could not even print a schedule, because then the game gets canceled and it's embarrassing," Morgan said.

When the Rattlers could get the heat and power turned on, they played their games at the old All-American Sports Park, which closed its doors years ago. For this season, they had made arrangements to play at the Doolittle Community Center in West Las Vegas, or so Morgan claims.

And Newman disputes.

"There no truth to anything he says, other than his name is Gil Morgan," said Newman, speaking from the league office, or at least his basement, in Indianapolis.

"They did not make the (franchise) payment, they did not put together a team or organization, they did not arrange for a suitable venue, they did not meet the league schedule. They had a whole lot of excuses but ... they were not making the games. That's the reason they lost the team."

During their almost secret two-year existence, I saw two Rattlers games, which I suppose makes me something of an expert. I heard from a fan who said he watched the team's only game this year. He said the "crowd" was 15.

In other words, it's not as if the team will be missed.

Those should have been the last words written about the Rattlers. But that probably won't be the case.

Morgan told me he wants to bring the team back next year to play in another minor league.

Newman, whose sister Laura Coleman co-owns the Poker Palace, a small casino in North Las Vegas, says there will definitely be an ABA team -- under new management of course -- in Las Vegas next season.

Somewhere, I hope Billy Paultz and Mack Calvin and Willie Wise are reading this and having a good laugh.

This new ABA almost makes the one they played in look organized.

[Sportsfan2005]

It gets better morgan is now beeing sued.

[Houston Caldwell]

So according to Mr.Newman, the Rattlers never paid the franchise fee, but they played 2 seasons (+ 1 game), and hosted the ABA All-Star game last year?
At least now I know why LY's ABA All-Star Game was played in Vegas; Joe gets a tax write-off for visiting family.